Ageing, as a process, is irreversible. While it can’t be stopped, it can be slowed down.
Fangli Hu, ECU PhD candidate
The adage “a change is as good as a rest” may not always apply, but researchers at Edith Cowan University (ECU) have discovered that occasionally travelling and changing environments may be healthier for us than lounging around the house.
The new study from ECU, which was published in the Journal of Travel Research, examined the “intersection between tourism and health” and used the notion of “entropy increase” as “a basis for assessing how tourism influences human health.” According to the rule of entropy, which states that everything in the cosmos tends towards death and chaos, experts believe that travel experiences may slow down the ageing process by impacting our four main systems and keeping our bodies in a low-entropy condition.
Positive travel experiences can enhance well-being by increasing stress levels, increasing metabolic rates, and even producing an adaptive immune system response by exposing us to new settings and encouraging physical activity and social connections.
Engaging in leisure travel may help reduce long-term stress, reduce immune system overactivity, and promote healthy self-defence mechanisms. Playing sports has the ability to reduce stress and weariness in the joints and muscles. This alleviation boosts the efficiency of the body’s anti-wear-and-tear system and aids in maintaining the metabolic balance. Then, organs and tissues can continue to exist in a low-entropy state, according to Fangli Hu, a PhD candidate at ECU.
Self-healing and regeneration
Current trends for wellness and yoga retreats and other types of health tourism “also contribute to people’s physical and mental health,” Hu added, with moderate exercise credited with improving blood circulation, nutrient absorption and waste elimination as well as being beneficial to the bones, muscles, and joints and supporting “the body’s anti–wear-and-tear system.”
But while the focus was on positive travel experiences, Hu acknowledged that “Conversely, negative travel experiences could increase entropy and lead to health issues.” Examples given in the study include exposure to infectious diseases, accidents, injuries, violence, water and food safety issues, and inappropriate engagement in tourism activities.
Hu notes, however, that not every difficulty is detrimental to us: “Put simply, the self-defence system becomes more resilient.” The release of hormones that support tissue regeneration and repair can enhance the body’s ability to mend itself.